If The Kazekage Hadn't Said Yes
by Omamori
Summary: What if the fourth Kazekage hadn't agreed to invade Konoha?  What would've happened then?  Would it have been all fun and games?  That's not what I'm here to write!  Rated T for possible gruesome death scenes.
1. Prologue

**Well here's my new story. I had it somewhere in my head for a while. That little 'what if the fourth Kazekage hadn't agreed to invade Konoha?' Would it have been all fun and games? Nah, course not! I wouldn't be writing this if it was!**

If The Kazekage Hadn't Said Yes

"I will not betray my brothers! I will never betray Konoha!" The argument had been going on for hours. Man against man. Well, that's if you could call the second _thing_ a man. He looked more snake like than anything else, and his skin was a death white colour.

A twelve year old boy was hiding behind the Fourth Kazekage's desk. He looked a lot like his father underneath his hood and face paint. If you were to pull his hood down you would see that he had messy brown hair, just like the Fourth Kazekage.

Kankurō watched the argument with undeniable curiosity. He had never seen his father argue like this before, and all the people where cringing against the wall. He didn't know what was scaring them. His father. Or the intruder. Only one man was stood as calm as anything. He had round glasses that reflected the light in the room when he moved. And his silvery hair was tied up in a ponytail. Kabuto. Kankurō had heard the intruder call him by that, so he expected it was his name.

"Just leave, Orochimaru, I have given you my final answer and it is a no." The Fourth Kazekage gestured with his hand and the intruder, Orochimaru, decided that maybe it was a good time to leave. His snake-like eyes bore straight into the Kazekage before he turned and headed towards the door, Kabuto in tow.

"You will regret the day you ever denied me, Yondaime Kazekage." He said before sweeping out of the door and slamming it behind him, leaving every heart beating at a racing pace.

Slowly the council members regained their composture and the Kazekage ran a hand through his hair, looking more tired than he ever had before. More tired than when Kankurō fought with Gaara, or with Temari. More tired than when the council drove him nuts.

Kankurō crawled out from behind the desk and walked over to his father, heart racing. The Kazekage hugged him hard and the council dispersed.

"What did he mean? How's he gonna make _you_ regret?" Asked Kankurō when it was just them in the room.

"I don't think he'll manage it, Kankurō, don't worry. He'll have a hard time getting through _our_ defences."

"But he seemed pretty sure. And anyway, he's gotten through our defences before, hasn't he?"

His father answered by sending him straight to bed.

**There's my prologue. Hope you enjoyed. And I'll have chapter 1 up ASAP!  
Kankurō: REVIEW, DAMN IT!  
Yea, Listen to the man.**


	2. Meeting the Sand Siblings

**Thanks for the comments, guys (and gals). Here's chapter 1, please enjoy.**

-0000-

"Ouch!" The little boy scrambled back to his feet and stared wide eyed at the teenager in front of him. Kankurō looked the boy up and down. He was a short little brat with brown hair and black eyes. For some reason he was wearing goggles on his head like they were a forehead protector. Kankurō noticed that a small boy and girl, running up towards them, were wearing them too.

There were four people running up towards them, two boys, and two girls. Temari looked them over critically from a position slightly behind her brother. One boy and girl had graduated from the academy, she could tell, as they were wearing Konoha forehead protectors. The other two those ludicrous goggles.

The elder boy had spiky blonde hair and a look on his face that said he would _attempt_ to pick a fight if you put a toe out of line. Attempt being the most important word in that sentence, Temari didn't think that he would win, no matter who his opponent was. The elder girl had shockingly pink hair, Temari was disgusted. Her eyes were a bright green and she, like the elder boy, had graduated from the academy, though she wore her protector like a hair band.

The younger boy was a snotty little runt with brown hair, those annoying goggles, black eyes and round glasses; they reminded Kankurō of Kabuto's. The girl had ginger, gravity defying hair, black eyes, and, you guessed it, goggles. They were a pretty odd bunch.

"Oh! Ummm, I'm sorry, that was my fault!" Said the pink-haired kunoichi, biting her lip worriedly. Temari and Kankurō looked her over, obviously implying the want of a name. "Oh! I'm Sakura. Sakura Haruno." She said.

"And I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Shouted the blonde.

"Nice to know(!)"

The brat jumped round to face Kankurō, "Why did you stop me? Let me pass!" He shouted suddenly, pointing a finger straight at Kankurō.

"How about... no?"

Naruto widened his eyes and pointed at Kankurō in the same manner. "You can't do that, he's Konohamaru; the Hokage's grandson!" He seemed to think that this was a one way ticket to anything.

"Look, kid, even if you're related to a Kage, that doesn't allow you to do anything. Hell! You couldn't do everything even if you _were_ a Kage!"

Konohamaru glowered at the Shinobi infront of him. _Who did he think he was? Acting so cool, as if he knew what he was talking about!_

Sakura turned to the kids behind her, "Moegi, Udon, what do you usually do when Konohamaru starts fights he can't win?"

"Who said I was going to fight. He's just a little, pathetic, spoilt brat. Not that _I'm_ not, but still." Temari rolled her eyes and surveyed the group of kids in front of her.

"If this is the best Konoha can offer, then we're gonna breeze through this." She stated calmly.

"Huh? What?" Said Sakura, cocking her head to the side in curiosity. "Hang on! You're not from round here! "

"Well done, Haruno(!) Though it doesn't take a genius to work it out, the protectors should pretty much sum it up for you." Temari said patronizingly.

Sakura huffed and glanced at Kankurō's protector. "The sand village." She murmured. "What are you doing in our village?"

Naruto, feeling forgotten, which he was, decided to chip in. "YEA! WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE?" He shouted.

"Shut it, kid. How about you tell 'em, Tem."

"We're here for the exams." Seeing the blank look on Naruto's face she added. "The Chūnin exams. The exams you take to become a Chūnin. Is he usually this thick?" She asked Sakura.

"Yes. Naruto, go home if you can't use your head!" She turned back the sand siblings. "Shouldn't there be three of you?"

"Hmmm."

"Not making trouble, I hope." Kankurō and Temari spun round. A twelve year old boy stood upside down on the branch of a tree behind the sand siblings. He had bright red hair and a red tattoo above his left eye that read love. His eyes were cold and hard and didn't once rest on the small group of leaf ninja. His eyes, instead, stayed fully focused on Temari and Kankurō.

"N-no, Gaara." Stuttered Kankurō, taking a step backwards, his face twisting into fear. Temari looked worse, though, she was absolutely terrified, her eyes glued to Gaara, looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

"Then let's go; we shouldn't keep Baki waiting." Sand curled around his body till he was hidden from view. Half a second later sand swirled around the ground behind of the sand shinobi and Gaara stood up, gesturing for the others to follow him.

"Hey! I'm not done with you!" Shouted Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon widened their eyes and hissed at him to shut up, but they were ignored.

"Who's that?"

"Hokage's grandchild, I think, 'less he's just a bit self-important." Kankurō glanced back at the boy. "You may not be done, but I am, father's a bit fed up of me picking fights. And then there's Baki and Tem too."

"Oh? And who's your father? The Kazekage?"

"Got it in one."

And with that the sand siblings walked off, leaving Naruto and Konohamaru gawking after them.

-0000-

"It's unlike you not to pick fights." Mused Temari. "What stopped you? I mean, you don't give a damn what me and Baki think, and Gaara doesn't care either way."

"Baki and I, Tem."

"I didn't think you cared about grammar, Kankurō."

"Hmm, I think I'm spending too much time in council meetings."

"We're going off subject. So, what stopped you?"

Kankurō looked round the apartment, pondering his answer. "I don't really know, Tem." He said slowly. "I just didn't feel like it. Is it me or is something wrong here? I can taste it in the air."

-0000-

**Well, I hope you enjoyed. This chapter is from the first ever meeting of the sand siblings. Hope you liked. Please review.**


	3. The First Exam

**Okay, well, here's chapter 2, I'm trying to update as much as possible, so I hope you enjoy.**

-0000-

Orochimaru smiled his cruel, evil smile. Kabuto was nervous, what did Orochimaru think he was going to do?

"Are you doubting me, Kabuto?"

"No, sir."

"Good, because, as I said, we do not need the backing of the sand, we can still win."

"Of course, sir"

"And we shall have revenge of that Kazekage; he shall know what it means to cross me."

Kabuto swallowed nervously, he knew Orochimaru quite well, and he never went for the average revenge. He thought back to the Kazekage. _He has three little brats. Two boys. One girl. _He thought.

"How?" He asked.

"I think..."

"Yes?"

"What's the name of his middle child again?"

"Kankurō."

"I think we shall get revenge through him, Kabuto. Yes, he will do just fine."

-0000-

"MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

Silence filled the large room as every eye turned on the little, blonde idiot.

"I WON'T LOSE TO YOU BASTARDS! YOU GOT THAT?"

Kankurō raced his eyebrows at the little brat.

"Isn't that the guy from earlier?" Murmured Temari.

"I think you may be right." Gaara stayed impassive, watching the Shinobi carefully.

"HEY! WHAT IS HE?" Shouted a blonde Kunoichi to Sakura, obviously annoyed.

-0000-

"QUIET DOWN YOU WORTHLESS BASTARDS!" _Why does everyone have to shout?_ Thought Temari exasperatedly.

A large group of men appeared in an explosion of smoke, the man at the head had a long scar running down from his left eye, over his mouth, and down the right hand side of his cheek. He had a second scar on his right cheek. He wore his protector like a bandanna, and he had a long black overcoat and gloves, as well as the uniform the rest of the Shinobi were wearing.

"Thanks for waiting." He smirked. "I am your examiner for the first exam. My name? Ibiki Morino."

"Charming." Muttered Kankurō. "At least you've stopped shouting."

"YOU THERE, AT THE BACK, STOP MUTTERING!" _Ah, well. Can't win them all._

"Right, we are now going to start the exams, you will each come up here and pick one of these tabs and sit in the correct seat." He held up a deck of cards, the first one saying '1'. "We will then hand out the test." One of the men behind him shuffled a few papers and held them up.

Naruto blinked once. "WHAT! A WRITTEN TEST?"

-0000-

"Right. Now for the rules. I'll right them on the board will I speak. May I just make one thing clear? There will be _no_ questions."

The sand sibling watched impassively from their separate seating places. Kankurō couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, making him shiver slightly. He looked round, but noticed nothing wrong. _So why do I feel like this?_ He thought.

What he didn't see was the young man watching him carefully from behind. The young man with round glasses and white hair slung up in a ponytail. The young man who, only yesterday, had been talking with Orochimaru about the plans to invade. The plans for revenge. Revenge that included Kankurō.

"The first rule: You guys will all start off with ten points. The test is made up of ten questions and each one is worth a point but this test uses a subtraction system." He began to write lightly, and neatly, on the board. "Basically, if you answer all the questions correctly, you keep your ten points. But say if you missed three questions, you lose three points and will have seven."

The room was hushed as they listened and Naruto was scratching his chin, slowly but surely working out what Ibiki Morino meant.

"The second rule: This is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your teammates. So each team will compete to see how many points they can hold on to from the initial team total of thirty."

Sakura's mouth dropped open in disbelief, she glanced from at the blonde Shinobi and then banged her head of the table, obviously frustrated. Kankurō smiled slightly. _Well. We're not gonna have a damn little bit of trouble. Gaara'll just get it done and Temari won't be help showing off. And no one's noticed Karasu. The odds are in our favour._

"Now for the most important rule: The third rule is that during the exam, anyone caught by the testing officers doing something _sneaky_, for instance, cheating, will have two points subtracted for every offence." The whole group stared at him. _Just two points... Why just two points? If he didn't want us to –_

"Oh!" gasped Temari under her breath, quite possibly being the first to work it out. She glanced at Kankurō meaningfully and he nodded back, to show that he understood. Gaara was a few rows in front so they had no way of getting the news to him. _It's lucky I decided to put Karasu in the mix._ Thought Kankurō smugly.

"Realize that those caught are not worthy of becoming Chūnin. So don't get caught." Sasuke rolled his eyes, as if he were going to _try_ and get caught. _If anyone gets caught doing something idiotic in this group, it'll be Naruto. DON'T YOU DARE mess this up for us, bakka."_

"And the final rule: Those that lose all their points during the test, or don't answer a single answer correctly, fail. Along with their two teammates." _CRAP! DON'T YOU MESS THIS UP FOR US, NARUTO, YOU, YOU, YOU LITTLE CREEP! _ Sakura practically screamed out loud, trying to ignore the amused looks she happened to be getting from the other Rookies.

"The exam is one hour long. BEGIN!"

-0000-

"And now we will begin the tenth question." Every single head in the room looked up, some looked nervous, one absolutely petrified (Not pointing any fingers, Naruto), others looked curious, and one boy with bright red hair sat their impassively, waiting for the question to be announced.

"Now, there are a few more rules specific for the tenth question that I need to go over." _What?_ The thought was collective and unanimous; every mind thinking it at once, well, except two, that red headed boy was on a different track. _Not know, mother, but soon. You shall have blood soon._ And the young man with white hair slung back in a ponytail and round glasses thinking only about the invasion. And the revenge. _How long will it be till we start? I have to keep an eye on that boy, Kankurō, this should be an interesting year._

"These are..." Eyes widened as they looked at the examiner. "The rules of desperation." All but two gulped and wondered why they were called that. All but two looked round at each other nervously. All but two felt like crap.

"For this tenth question, you must decide whether you want to take it or not. But I must warn you, if you choose not to take it, YOU FAIL!"

"Well, who's gonna choose not to take it?" Cried a boy three rows from the front, he, along with all but two of the examinees in the room, thought the whole thing was ludicrous.

"You didn't let me finish." That shut the boy up. "If you choose to take it, but get it wrong, not only do you fail, but you lose the right to ever take the Chūnin selection exam again."

Crap.

"So, anyone want to quit?"

Silence reigned in the room for what felt like an hour, but was probably just a minute or two.

"I-I-I won't take it!" Said a boy who'd been sat next to Naruto, his hand was shaking violently, and his face was screwed up, as if in pain. "I'm sorry, Gennai, Inoho..."

"Number fifty, FAIL! One hundred and thirty, one hundred and eleven, also FAIL!" The three men stood up and stumbled out of the room, the two who hadn't raised their hands glowering at the man who had.

Slowly hand went up all over the room and people were dismissed left, right, and centre. After about ten minutes, the hand raising dispersed into nothing, and no one moved.

"Right. I take it that's all." Said Ibiki Morino, scanning the room carelessly. "Well, there's one last thing for me to do: Congratulations. You pass."

"Huh?"

-0000-

**Hope you liked that chapter. Please review, any tips would be appreciated and any confidence-boosting would be too.**


	4. Begining the Second Exam

"I said: You pass."

"But how? I mean, why do we pass?" Temari was staring at Ibiki. _ Ha! You fail, Tem, you mean to say you haven't worked it out? _Kankurō smirked slightly as he saw Ibiki Morino open his mouth to reply.

"YEA! HOW COME WE PASS?" _Naruto, you jerk! He was just about to tell us!_ Sakura glowered from her place at the blonde Shinobi who was slower than a snail doing a four hundred metre dash.

"If you let me speak. Well, simply, you pass because that was the final question. Your choice to not quit was the correct answer."

"Huh? Then what were the other questions for?" _Hmmm. Actually, that's a good question, Tem._

"YEAH! WHY DID WE HAVE THEM? WERE THEY POINTLESS?" _SHUT IT, BAKKA!_

"Well, they weren't pointless. How can I put this in a way you'll understand?" He smiled slightly at Naruto, who didn't seem to realise what he meant. "The other questions where there to test your ability to gather information. First, success was based on the whole team, not just an individual, this puts pressure on every member not to mess things up.

"But the questions in this test were questions that no Genin would be able to answer." _Umm, Ibiki, I'm a Genin._ Thought Sakura, proudly. "Because of that little, obvious, thing, most, if not all of you should have come to the conclusion that you had to cheat. So, even more simply, we tested you on cheating. We had targets, two Chūnin who knew all the answers, mixed into the crowd, as a start. But those who cheated poorly, failed."

There was silence for a few minutes, then...

"HEY? WHO YOU CALLING STUPID?"

-0000-

Suddenly, the glass in one of the windows shattered and one of the men dived to the side to avoid a spinning orb of black that came flying through.

"WHAT THE-" Shouted a boy with dark hair and a sand symbol on his protector.

Something inside the black orb through two kunai knives into the roof and the black thing revealed itself to be a sheet with writing on. "Jumped the gun, as usual." Murmured Ibiki.

The 'thing' from inside the sheet span round in a somersault and the sheet unfolded completely. The 'thing' stood up, 'its' purple hair tied up in a spiky ponytail. 'It' was wearing a long overcoat and quit _revealing_ mesh on 'its' torso and thighs. The 'it' was a she.

"SHUT IT YOU GUYS!" She screamed. "I AM ANKO MITARASHI, THE EXAMINER FOR THE SECOND EXAM! LET'S GO!" She blinked as the kids stared back at her dumbly and she realised that she was early. Again.

"Good timing, Anko(!)" Ibiki smirked round the side of the sheet.

"Seventy-eight! What the-? Your test was too, damn, easy, Ibiki! You've left me twenty-six teams!" She sighed and eyed the group. "No matter, I'll cut them in half, at least, in the second test."

"At least in half? Cut us?" Squeaked Sakura, staring terrified at the examiner. _Does this girl take everything for face value?_ Thought Kankurō mildly, still obliviously to the white haired Shinobi staring at him from behind.

"I'm getting a bit excited. Don't worry your pretty little head, my girl, I'll explain when we've got to our second location. Follow me."

-0000-

"Welcome to the second test: practise arena 44. It's also known as The Forest of Dead. Let's say the reasons aren't unknown."

"The Forest of Death? Why's it called that?"

"Can it, Naruto!" Said Sakura, hitting him sharply on the head, much to the amusement of Anko Mitarashi. "Sorry, please carry on."

"Ha! Well, before we start there's something I have to ask you to do." She held out a pile of formal looking papers. "You have to sign these consent forms, I'm afraid."

"Why?"

"Well, because this is The Forest of Death. Naruto isn't it?"

"YEAH!"

"Well, shut it and let me finish. There're gonna be deaths in this one, and I can't be held responsible, I mean, it's not _my_ fault you agreed to do the test, and I can't allow you in until they're signed."

'Gulp' Each person, apart from two, swallowed nervously and eyed the forest. Kabuto Yakushi was hidden strategically behind a tree, where he could keep an eye on Kankurō without being noticed. Gaara of the Desert was stood next to his brother, arms folded. He knew Kabuto was there and he listened and waited; something would have to come out about his plans. Both were hardly listening to Anko as she spoke, Gaara entirely focused on Kabuto, Kabuto entirely focused on Kankurō, and yet no one, not even Anko, noticed.

"Right, I'm gonna explain the second test, and then you can sign the forms. Then each team will check in at the booth behind me." She gestured at a little hut with a few Shinobi sat behind a little table underneath the wooden roof. A curtain was tied to the pole, looking ready to be pulled across.

"I will now explain the second test: simply, it's a survival test. The area of The Forest of Death is like this." She held up piece of paper with a circular map on it. Around practise arena 44 there are, well, 44 locked gates, a river running through, with 4 bridges, most of the arena is forest, and there is a tower _dead_ centre. From your gate to the Tower is about... 10km.

"During the test you have to do one, simple, thing, made not so simple by the fact that the others are doing the same thing, using anything at your disposal, you have to compete in a 'no rules' battle over scrolls." She held up two scrolls, one saying heaven, one saying earth.

"Scroll?" Asked a lad from the mist village.

"You will have to fight over these two scrolls: Tengoku and Chikyuu. There are 26 teams, so 13 will have Tengoku, and 13 will have Chikyuu. And to pass this test, your team has to get to the tower when, and _only_ when, they have Tenchi. Both. So that, of course, means that 13 teams _have _to fail. But, just to spice things up a bit, there's a time limit." She smiled evilly at the group of Genin in front of her. "This test will last exactly 120 hours, or 5 days. You want food? You'll have to search. The forest is full of food, absolutely delightful don't you think? Just mind out for the man-eating beasts, poisonous insects, poisonous animals, man-eating plants, thorns, ummmm... oh, and poisonous plants whilst you're searching, K?

"And 13 teams passing? Not likely. I mean, you could get eaten alive, poisoned, harmed past the brink of doing anything, knocked unconscious, lose your scroll, lose a teammate, have a teammate knocked unconscious, look in a scroll before they get to the tower, or just run out of time. Oh, and you can't quit. Right, that's it, sign your forms and hand the 3 from your team in at the booth to get your scroll. Then choose a gate to start at. Kouun, you're gonna need it."

-0000-

Everyone was stood at their gates. Kiba's team at Gate 16, Shikamaru's team at Gate 27, Naruto's team at Gate 12, Neji's team at gate 41, The Sound at Gate 20, The Grass Ninja at Gate 15, Kabuto's team at Gate 7, Gaara's team at gate 6. Gaara was curious, Kabuto had now chosen the gate next to them, and was still watching his brother. It wasn't like him to get interested at things like this, but the way Kabuto was looking at Kankurō, it made him uneasy, it reminded him of all the assassins that had tried to kill him, but his brother didn't have the sand to protect him. Gaara shook his head; caring got you nowhere.

Anko glanced at her watch. "THE SECOND CHŪNIN EXAM BEGINS!" The gates swung open and the timer started, Kabuto's team following safely behind Gaara's.

-0000-

**Tengoku – Heaven  
Chikyuu – Earth  
Tenchi – Heaven and Earth  
But you already guessed those, didn't you?  
Kouun – Good Luck**

**Hope you enjoyed. Please review, and thank you all my fans.**


	5. Gaara's fight

**Hope you enjoy, and thanks for the favouriting/alerting/reviewing, love you guys!**

-0000-

The trees were dense around them, hardly any sunlight allowed through. Foliage covered the ground, leaving no area free from its grasp. Undisturbed flowers and plants were dotted about here and there, some poisonous, some not. The forest was near silent but for a sound, almost like wind rushing through trees, that whistled through the air.

Kankurō, Gaara and Temari came to a halt, Kankurō glanced at Gaara, not needing to speak to convey their conversation, anyone, apart from those two boys, would have said the noise was just wind, even Temari, a wind type, would not be able to tell the difference. But to Kankurō and Gaara they were footsteps, ninja hurrying through the trees after something, after prey, confident that they hadn't been heard, they moved forward just as fast, and just as careless.

It took Kankurō a minute to realise that the 3 man team was headed straight towards the spot that they had landed on.

"Gaara?"

"I hear them."

"Who?" Temari was frowning hard, annoyed at being left out again.

"Listen."

"All I can hear is wind."

"Or ninja."

"What?"

"They're ninja. Remember when I used to sneak up behind you and get you with my puppets? Remember what it sounded like?"

"Oh! You're right!"

"'Course I'm right."

"They're nearly here." Gaara spoke up again, his cold eyes looking straight towards the sound of the ninja. Kankurō pulled his bandaged bundle off his back and Temari grabbed hold of her fan. "Don't bother with those, I can handle them myself."

"Well, if you're sure..."

"I'm sure."

Kankurō swung his bundle back onto his back and Temari allowed her hands to fall to her sides. Watching, waiting, wondering as the ninja came through the trees. _Who are they?_ Mused Kankurō. _Well, whoever they are, they're about to meet the desert._ He glanced at Gaara, who was staring straight ahead, fingers digging into his arms, eyes bloodshot and bloodthirsty. _He scares me when he gets like this, I have to admit..._

-0000-

"OK, we'll stay here for a bit, Naruto, Sasuke, why don't you see if you can find us some food, there's a river nearby that might have fish, I'll set up camp and a fire here." Sakura ordered, blushing as Sasuke looked her way, she quickly busied herself with setting up a fire next to a cave they had found.

"Fine." Said Sasuke

"YEAH! COURSE!" Shouted Naruto.

Sakura smiled slightly. _The cutey and the No. 1 Knucklehead Ninja, I can always rely on them!_ But a little voice inside disagreed; _**YEAH RIGHT! Naruto's gonna go do sommit stupid and Sasuke, well he's not interested, is he? **_Sometimes the truth can hurt, and Sakura had to fight back the tears as the Shinobi ran off towards the river. "They _will_ always be there, they _will_!" Was she convincing others, or just herself?

Sakura worked hard, well, as hard as she could without messing up her hair, she collected firewood and made a smokeless fire, she collected moss and softened the floor of the cave, she got blankets and managed to chisel 3 small bowls from wood. She found metal and build a small sort of grill over the fire and made sure everything was ready for the boys' return.

There had indeed been fish in the river, and Sasuke managed to outdo Naruto with ease. Though Naruto had many shadow clones by his side, he couldn't understand why every fish he grabbed managed to slip out of his fingers. Sasuke was doing a lot better, he was more patient, and every time a fish jumped out of the water he would through a well-aimed Kunai at it and pin it against a tree. By the time they got back to the cave, Naruto had collected 1 fish, and Sasuke had collected 5.

"Thank you!" Smiled Sakura, flirting outrageously with Sasuke as she spoke. "We can have 1 fish each at the moment, and the other 3 should keep 'till morning, then we can have them as breakfast." She put 3 onto the grill and they began to cook beautifully. After a while they were crisp and wonderful, and Sakura unloaded 1 into each bowl. "Dinner!" She practically sang, holding out two of the bowls to the boys, who greedily took them and started eating.

_Snap_

"What was that?" Sakura's eyes were trained on the cave entrance.

"No idea." Sasuke pulled himself into battle position.

"I'll go check!" Naruto began to move towards the entrance.

"No, Naruto, don't!

All eyes were trained apprehensively on the entrance, waiting for who, or what, to appear.

"What is it, do you think?"

"Another ninja, its moves are too precise to be a normal beast, though we shouldn't dispel the theory that there might be a few _unusual_ species out there. Get your weapons at the ready, it's just someone after our scroll, I expect."

_That makes me feel loads better, Sasuke(!)_ Was what she thought. "Thanks, Sasuke, you're probably right, it's probably nothing!" Was what she said, eying the cave entrance suspiciously.

-0000-

"They're here." Kankurō and Temari positioned themselves behind Gaara, knowing that he would get rid of them, all they were worried about was Gaara turning on _them_ once he was done.

3 Ninja shot through the trees, Gaara noticed that Kabuto was not among them, these Shinobi were from the Mist Village and obviously thought they had them.

"Got you!" Smirked the leader cockily. He was a tall build with short black hair, blue eyes and tanned skin, in his left hand he held a large shuriken.

"Are you planning to throw that? It's a bit grown up for a kid like you." Stated Kankurō lightly, feeling satisfied as the ninja's face burned with fury. _Good, he won't be able to fight as well if he's annoyed at me._

The leader chucked his weapon as hard as he could but all he hit was a wall of sand.

"That was pathetic aim, y' know! Next time, you might want to think about missing the massive wall of sand, it's not hard y' see." And with that, despite the fact that he was ignoring Gaara's orders, he pulled out a weapon and shot it through the space where the sand had been. It sliced through the air with deadly precision, finally coming to rest in one of the sand ninja's chests, hitting his stomach.

The leader growled with fury; he'd just lost one of his men and been played a fool. The injured man was being guarded by last Shinobi, whose face was awash with fury and a need to protect him; they were obviously very good friends.

The leader glared straight at Gaara, "You're the leader here, aren't you? Well, I want to fight with you!"

"Technically, I'm not the leader, my brother is, but you looked at me the wrong way, so I'll fight." Gaara lifted his hand just as the leader went for his weapon and sand curled up around his legs and towards his torso and head.

"Gaara." Said Kankurō, he knew what was coming next. "Gaara, stop it, there's no need to kill him." But Gaara wouldn't listen, he was too immersed in the song of death. _Mother, look, I'm bringing you blood. Aren't I a good boy, mother?_

The sand curled around the leader's mouth and nose, leaving only panic stricken eyes visible. "Gaara!" Kankurō knew it was stupid to interrupt Gaara when he was like this, but there was a reason _he _was leader, not Temari. His father trusted _him_ to keep Gaara in line. "Gaara! Stop. It. Now. Remember what father said!" Gaara frowned and then released the Shinobi. "Though... it return for letting you go, what scroll have you got?" Kankurō smiled sweetly at the Shinobi.

"We won't give it to you!"

"Then shall I give my brother permission to carry on with his fun?" He began to turn towards Gaara. "Who do we think first? The injured? Nah, he won't be much fun. Let's go for the guy guarding him, we'll make our new friend watch." Gaara began to lift his hand...

"WAIT! Ok, ok, it's Tengoku, alright?"

"Ooooh, looks like we're in luck!" smirked Temari, "Ours is Chikyuu!"

Kankurō smiled nastily, "So, in return for letting you go..." He held out his hand. The leader looked torn, he knew just how unlikely it was that they would pass if they handed over their scroll, but he supposed that they could come again next year if they have to.

Whilst he was reasoning, Gaara was becoming more and more impatient for blood; his lust filling his veins. Kankurō shot him a worried glance; it would not do for him to lose his cool, their father would blame all of this on Gaara, Temari, and especially him. _I'm team leader, I need to be able to stop him, there _is _a reason it wasn't Temari, and the reason for it not being Gaara, well, he can't stop himself. I need to get a grip._

His worried glance turned into a warning glare as Gaara's arms tightened.

"H-here." The leader carefully placed Tengoku in Kankurō's outstretched hand, Kankurō examined the scroll to check that it wasn't a fake, every inch went under his gaze, after all, he knew that Tengoku and Chikyuu were the same apart from the colour and the symbol.

"Thank you." He smiled, and then graciously let them past, well, if gracious was a thing that Kankurō could do.

What no one their saw were the 3 pairs of eyes that watched from within the trees.

"That Kankurō boy is quite harsh, isn't he Kabuto, wouldn't the girl have been easier."

"Lord Orochimaru seems pretty certain that this is who we should go for, and if Orochimaru gives an order, we don't question it, all right?" Kabuto glanced dangerously at the Shinobi beside him. _If looks could kill..._ thought the final ninja, watching the silent conversation with interest before his friend gave way.

"Y-you're right, Kabuto, sir, I was out of line."

"That's better." He looked back to the Sand Shinobi. "Looks like they're moving on, follow me."

-0000-

_3, 2, 1_ Sasuke counted down silently with his fingers, and as the last finger went down all 3 ninja sprang out into the wilderness, weapons at the ready, eying each tree and bush as if they were about to jump out and slaughter them.

Silence. That's all they heard. Silence.

"There's no one here!" Whispered Sakura, relief coursing through her body.

"Yeah! We must've scared them off!" Grinned Naruto.

"We didn't hear them moving away. They're still here, but hiding, we just have to be patient, they'll reveal themselves soon enough." All 3 kept watching and waiting. Never moving. Never wavering. Never daring to hope.

"So they're nearby?" Sakura's eyes darted from place to place. "You couldn't be wrong, I mean, there's no one that I can see." She paused for a moment, realising what she'd just said. "No. You're probably right. Well, it's you Sasuke, you're _definitely_ right."

Naruto huffed, _Yeah, of course, goody-two-shoes-wonderful-amazing-perfect Sasuke couldn't do _anything_ wrong, could he? _"HEY YOU! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!"

"We're not in that stupid police anime you love so much, Naruto, so shut it!"

And that's when all hell broke loose.

-0000-

**Well I hope you enjoyed that. I'm sorry it took me longer than normal to upload, my dad's got me tidying my room, bleuch! I'll try and upload ASAP, and, of course, ignore my father along the way (don't worry, I generally do that anyway!)  
Please review, they're as loved as strawberries dunked in chocolated fondu... Must dash, got chocolatey stuff to prepare!  
**


	6. Shikamaru's Problem

**Tee hee, bet y'all want to know what's happening to Sakura and co.  
Well, sorry, but as they say, 'patience is a virtue'  
Bet y'all hate me now :)  
**

Kankurō was leading the group through the trees towards the centre of the arena. Branches and twigs whipped against all three of the team's faces as they moved at top speed, oblivious to the three, well trained, ninja behind them who had taken all-but-three-minutes to get the scroll they needed.

As the Forest of Death went gray with the oncoming night Kankurō held up a hand. Temari and Gaara dropped onto the branch beside him, understanding immediately that he wanted to find somewhere for them to stay. The forest was silent, not a branch rustled in the non-existent wind. All was quiet, which made the forest seem like it was waiting. Not a thing moved, it was frozen in time, frozen at the heart of the danger. WARNING! It practically screamed at the ninja. The _oblivious_ ninja.

Sometimes being emotionless is a really bad thing.

-0000-

Shikamaru was bored, it had been more than 24 hours and nothing had happened. No idiotic ninja (and it Shikamaru's mind, everyone bar him was) had made their way into their numerous traps that surrounded camp. Each trap had been carefully thought out by Shikamaru and strategically placed where the enemy where most likely to run into them.

"Aww, man. This is such a drag."

"Stop complaining, Shika-chan, it could be worse." Said Ino sweetly.

"Can it, Ino-pig." _No matter what happens, I can always rely on Choji to annoy Ino. Though he's right, she is a pig, a _troublesome_ pig._

"I AM NOT A PIG!" _24 hours without her beloved hair products and she's as grouchy as my mum._ Shikamaru though mildly.

"Did you hear that?" Ino's eyes were wide.

"Hear what?" Choji asked carelessly, pulling a bag of crisps from his pack and beginning to stuff them down his throat. "Shikamaru, did you hear anything?" _There it is again. Choji? How can you miss that? It's so clear. Someone's bypassed my attacks, mendōkusei._ "Shikamaru?"

"Choji. DUCK!" Choji managed to hit the floor just as the kunai flew over his head and lodged themselves into the tree behind. Tags floating down for gravity. "PAPER BOMBS!" _CRAP!_

The explosion took a large area of the forest with it and Shikamaru thought that every stinking person in the forest (and that examiner, Anko Mitarashi) would probably have seen the mushroom cloud.

"Ah." He murmered, "This is becoming even more of a drag by the minute." He slipped further under the log that had fallen ontop of him, and that had sheltered him from the blast. A sudden realisation came over him. "Choji? Ino?" He called, as loud as he dared. Over the other side of the newly-invented clearing a bush shifted slightly and Shikamaru could just make out Ino's face.

A mound of mud towards his right shifted and Choji popped up. "Thank god, you're all fine."

"Yeah." Shikamaru's head whipped to the left where a pile of leaves had fallen to reveal... Choji. Shikamaru looked back to his right. Then his left. Then his right again. _2 Chojis?_

"Mendōkusei."

-0000-

**Sorry it's a short one, but, what with it being nearly Christmas and all, I haven't much time on my hands. Sorry guys. Hopefully y'all will get to find out what happens to Sakura next chapter (and I really mean that).**

**Well, please review ("Really, review" "Thanks Shika-chan!" "Excuse me?") and I'll try and write asap ("You say that every time." "Can it, Shika-chan" "She is one very troublesome woman")**

**Oh, that reminds me: Mendōkusei – How troublesome ("'tis Shika-chan's catchphrase in Japanese." "SHIKAMARU!" "XD")**


	7. Team 7's fight

**Sorry that my last chapter was so short :(  
Please forgive me! (On my knees begging)**

Ninja flew at the three Genin, driving them towards the cave entrance. Sakura threw her kunai straight at the nearest ninja, who dodged it and smirked.

"You'll have to do better than that, little girly, you missed me by miles!"

"Who said I was aiming for you?" She smirked, as the ground at the ninja's feet fell away and he dropped into a deep pit with smooth walls that would be impossible to manually climb.

"I've got jutsu, my girl, I can walk straight up-"

"-And through the ceiling?" And with that a bed of grass and soil, obviously made as impenetrable as possible, fell on top of the whole leaving no trace that there was a man beneath.

"One down." said Sasuke.

"HEY! BALDY!" shouted Naruto, waving his arms at a tall man with swirling tattoos on his shoulder blade.

"Why you little-" Naruto grinned and ran off to the forest, the (badly insulted) ninja trailing behind.

"Two down." said Sasuke.

The final ninja glanced over. "Anyone would've thought you'd planned this fight."

Sasuke smiled in response. "Technically we did. We made a plan encase someone might _stumble_ across us in the night." The ninja blinked, realising he'd been played a fool. "Sakura."

"Yes, Sasuke?"

"Follow Naruto, you know what he's like; chances are he'll need help."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine."

Sakura nodded and span on her heals. She took one glance at the pair of Genin and began to run off in the direction of Naruto and his new found 'friend'.

"Oh no you don't!" The ninja pulled out a shuriken and tossed it towards Sakura's back.

"Your fight's with me." Said Sasuke, jumping up and catching the shuriken with his eyes closed. When he opened them he revealed the Sharingan. The ninja raised his eyebrows.

"So _you're _the Uchiha brat." Sasuke just smirked.

-0000-

_Where the hell is he? _Sakura jumped from tree to tree, eyes peeled for the sign of that disgusting orange jacket that Naruto seemed so fond of.

Fire blazed through the forest in front of her and a large mushroom cloud flew up into the air.

"Naruto!" she gasped, increasing her speed ten-fold.

"Hang on." said Shikamaru. "I have an idea." He pulled a tiny packet of crisps and beginning to eat, both Choji's watched carefully, whereas Ino just wore a bemused expression.

Just as Shikamaru lifted the final crisp to his mouth one of the Chojis dived forwards and tore it from his grasp.

"Well, you're the real one." said Shikamaru, who then turned to the other Choji. "Which means _you're_ an imposter."

"Get him." Shouted Ino and wrestled him to the ground just as Sakura landed on the ground beside them. "Oh great(!) That's all we need(!)" She looked Sakura up and down. "Hello Billboard Brow."

Sakura (tactically) ignored her. "Have any of you seen Naruto? He was headed this way." Shikamaru shook his head. "Liar! Ino, why are you wrestling Naruto, I know he's a pest but that's taking it a bit far!"

"Huh?"

**Me: I'm sorry it's a short one, but I've run out of ideas! Great, now I have to write **_**another**_** poem (Read **_**'The Hitachiin Twins' **_**if you don't know what I'm on about; it's what I wrote last time, 'tis in the Ouran bit)  
Ino: REVIEW!  
Choji: Magic word, Ino.  
Ino *grrrr* **_**Please!**_**Happy now?  
Choji: Yes, one should use better vocabulary (I think he's been reading a dictionary or something)  
Shikamaru: Would you two stop arguing, it's such a drag.  
Ino: Why you little-  
Me: WELL, ANYWAY (Shouting to drown out Ino's voice.) BYE FOLKS! 'TILL NEXT TIME!**


	8. Heading to the tower

**Now I've got rid of my writers block, let's see whether I can avoid it today :)**

-0000-

"Naruto?" Shikamaru, for once in his life, was taking an interest in what was happening around him.

"I think you've got some explaining to do." said Choji.

"Why were you disguised as Choji?" asked Ino.

"Well, it's rather embarrassing." replied Naruto, but then carried on after the looks he got from people. "Well it's quite a long story but I'll try and shorten it so what happened was I was fighting this ninja and we were heading in this direction-"

"We got that far."

"And I chucked a paper bomb at him after I'd past the area – sorry guys – and when it exploded I wasn't sure if it had taken him with it so I changed into the first person I could think of which was Choji and then you lot appeared and it got really _really_ confusing because there were two Chojis but I didn't change back because I didn't know if the ninja was still around – he _might _still be around!" And with that, Naruto folded over, gasping for breath.

"You should have put _some_ punctuation in there!"said Sakura lightly as Naruto collapsed on the floor. "And he's dead, you did a pretty thorough job as well, I can only find parts, it's unnerving. Oh look! There's an arm over there!" Ino ran in the opposite direction of the bodiless arm, which was covered in blood.

"Mendōkusei." said Shikamaru, back to his normal, unbothered, self.

-0000-

"There you are! I was just about to look for you; I thought you'd lost, Naruto." Sasuke smirked, his eyes glinting in the sunlight.

Naruto, of course, was not going to take that lying down. "Oh yeah, because I'm _so_ pathetic I have to lose!" he growled, oblivious to the fact that everyone did think that. "You're not so perfect yourself, Sasuke, always thinking you're the most important person ever!" Sasuke held up a scroll. "Where d'ya get that?"

"The guy I was fighting had it."

"How _did_ you beat him?" inquired Sakura.

"Let's just say he's smoking out the back."

"Doesn't he know smoking's bad for his health?" Naruto asked. "Ought I go out there and tell him to stop."

"Well you can, but I don't think he'd listen." said Sasuke, straight faced, while Sakura dissolved into giggles behind him.

"Shall we head up to the tower then?" she giggled.

"Why not?" said Sasuke. "The sooner we get out of here the better."

-0000-

"Kabuto?"

"Yes, Akado?"

"I was just wondering, why did Lord Orochimaru choose Kankurō?"

Kabuto sighed; he really didn't like explaining things. "Well, Akado, it's mainly because of fighting ability. You see, Gaara has the sand for ultimate defence, he's the most heartless of the lot and his sand coffin, well, if Kankurō hadn't been there, Gaara would have killed the man.

"Temari fights long distance, but keeps her weapon by her side, it'll be near impossible to get close to her without destroying her weapon, but we _can't_ destroy her weapon without getting close to her.

"Then there's Kankurō, to fight he has to send his puppet away from his body, which makes it easy to pick off, also, when he's using his puppet he's using both hands, which makes it easier to slip past his defence and attack him.

"The other reason is that Kankurō is obviously the Kazekage's favourite child, just by the way he looks at him does it become apparent, so hurting Kankurō will hurt the Kazekage more than hurting Temari or Gaara would. Do you get it now?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Misumi, come on, we don't want to lose the sand siblings, which means we have to get to the tower."

"Coming sir."

-0000-

Kabuto looked up at the tower. "We're here, hurry up Tamari." he said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

Gaara stood beside him, his bloodshot eyes taking in every nook and every cranny on the structure. He could still sense Kabuto's team behind him and was beginning to get the feeling that it was a lot more serious than what he originally though, which was that they wanted to know how his brother fought.

He wasn't entirely wrong, that was half the purpose of their mission, but they also had to make sure he didn't expect it, and also they had to stop him from getting killed; he'd be no use to them dead.

Temari hurried up to the group. "Sorry, sorry, no need to get so annoyed." she growled, despite finding her brother insufferable, she still managed to read his emotions without any problem, in fact, she read them with less problem than most.

Together, Team Kankurō made their way through the large doors set in the side of the tower, Kabuto's team following silently behind.

When inside Kankurō pulled out the scrolls. "She said don't open them 'till you get to the tower-"

"-So let's open them, already!" sighed Temari, evidently bored.

Kankurō rolled his eyes but handed her one of the scrolls. Carefully they tore open the seal and opened the scroll. In a puff of smoke, which made their eyes open, and a little poof* Baki appeared. He looked at them.

"Looks like you pass." he stated, I'm supposed to tell you what this damn sign behind me mean, so I suppose I'll have to, you should learn something like that anyway, it's quite important for a Chūnin..."

-0000-

(I really couldn't be bothered to put the speech in; it would be pretty much identical to Iruka Sensei's in the animé/manga)

-0000-

"Interesting." muttered Kankurō. "But I do wish he'd shut up."

"Got a problem, Kankurō?"

"No, Baki."

"Good. Why don't you three head through. You can wait in there until the end of the exam.

-0000-

Kabuto's team where having a very different conversation with Orochimaru in that moment of time.

"So how does he fight?"

"I regret, my lord, that I have been unable to posses the information, it seems he depends on his brother, or he just doesn't see the point in fighting when his brother can do the job for him. I know that he's a good shot with a Shuriken; he managed to bring a man down with _one_, and I have seen him pull his puppet off his back but in the end he allowed Gaara to do the main attack."

"Well, you'll have to keep observing him then. We need to know how he fights."

"Yes sir."

"And I'll try and rig the matches so he's put with either Akado or Misumi. You two, whichever I get him with, I want _him_ to win."

"Yes sir." they said in unison, both glancing at each other. Obviously neither of them wanted to be in that match.

-0000-

Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto looked up at the tower. Naruto grinned and bounced towards the doors as if he were a five year old again, and headed inside. With a sigh and a 'glance' that spoke volumes, Sasuke and Sakura followed, trailing their feet behind.

-0000-

**Hope you enjoyed :)  
Orochimaru: Review.  
Me: EEEK! When did you come in?**  
**Orochimaru: ...  
Me: Well, umm, bye folks, see you soon (I hope).  
**


	9. Haisha!  Sasukekun

**I just realised how hard it is to juggle multiple 'in-progress' stories...  
*sigh* maybe I should just shut of my imagination, it doesn't exactly help with all the new ideas it stuffs in my head.**

-0000-

"Lord Hokage, please let _me_ carry on from here."

"Very well, Hayate."

The man turned away from the Hokage to face the Genin in front of him. He had dark circles under his eyes and was quite evidently very _very _ill.

"Hello, my name's Hayate Gekkō and I will be your proctor for the third test." He glanced round at the students. "Eight teams." he murmured, glancing at Anko with a single raised eyebrow, Anko glared back and sighed as it was quite evident who Hayate was blaming for the amount of teams allowed to pass.

"As there's a lot of you," he stated, seeming to come to a decision very quickly, "we're going to have to hold some preliminaries." He eyed the group, looking at others longer than most. "If any of you feel like you're not in top physical (or mental) condition, you can choose to step down immediately."

"Talk about not being in top physical condition!" whispered Ino, looking Hayate up and down.

"Quiet at the back please." He looked at the group and realised he hadn't made himself clear enough. "Just so you know, we're holding the preliminaries now, straight away, so you won't have any time to 'rest and recuperate' before the match, unless you're picked last, of course."

Unsteadily, four hands made their way into the air: Kabuto Yakushi, Ino Yamanaka (Whom had got injured in the bomb blast), one of the rain village kunoichi and Tenten (I don't want to _know_ what happened to her).

Kabuto spurted some lie about being injured in a fight, his eyes never wavering, but just as he was leaving the room he looked straight at the sound village's Shinobi, Orochimaru.

Ino Yamanaka was a bit more worse for wear, she was still bleeding and limped as she stumbled from the room.

The rain village kunoichi had a cut on her cheek and an arm in a makeshift sling, she glared and Neji Hyūga as she walked past.

Tenten was a mass of bleeding cuts and gashes that oozed puss, she'd evidently been attacked my numerous poisoned plants and animals. The proctors, and the Hokage, were impressed; no one had ever survived being poisoned in the 'Forest of Death'.

When those three had left there were twenty candidates ready for the picking. Hayate checked each one out, they looked strong and he guessed that at least a couple of the fights would be interesting.

-0000-

Sasuke faced his opponent, a light smirk playing on his lips.

"Begin!"

His opponent, a Shinobi from the sound, dived at him, Zaku Abumi grinned, he didn't know what this little boy was capable of and thought he had the match in the bag.

He brought his arms up, ready to blast the squirt into oblivion, but noticed something to late. Sasuke's eyes had taken on a red colour and had two comer shapes in it.

Zaku blinked for a second the smirked. He had no idea what that thing was, he thought it was a visual genjutsu, an illusion, to catch him off guard. And no way was he falling for that.

He dived forwards, bringing his right arm up, ready to blast 'that little squirt' into oblivion. He wasn't expecting what happened next.

Sasuke twisted in midair, moving his body so he was completely out of the way of the funnel of air, he then brought his arms up and grabbed Zaku's right arm, twisting hid backwards. Zaku cried out dropping to one knee and clutching his arm. He glared up at Sasuke.

"You're _dead_, bastard!"

Sasuke grinned and jumped into the air, landing on the other side of the room, his eyes entirely focused on Zaku.

Zaku stood up and backed away to the wall. Not because he was scared, but because he had a plan.

Zaku brought his unbroken arm up and blasted air through the room, the funnel got wider and wider until there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

Sasuke was thrown against the wall. His head jerked back and slid down to the ground in a pool of blood*.

"This match goes to Zaku Abumi." stated Hayate. "On to the second match please."

Medical Shinobi came in and took Zaku to mend his arm. They lifted and unconscious Sasuke onto a stretcher and hardly noticed the wide-eyed form of Sakura as she watched him carried out of the room.

"Is he going to be ok?" she murmured.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." smiled Kakashi gently.

-0000-

"Right, ummm, *cough*, let's move on to the second match, shall we?" Hayate dissolved into another, short, round of coughing before gesturing to the unseen technologically advanced Shinobi to choose the next names.

Every eye travelled up to the board and read the names:

**Yoroi Akadō  
vs  
Kankurō**

Kankurō grinned evil and jumped over the banister, landing lightly on his feet in the area below.

Akadō stared at the name, as if willing it to change, _why me? Why does it have to be me, why not that self-important bastard next to me?_

"You gonna come, baka? Or do I have to drag you down?" smirked Kankurō, there was something unrealistic about him, something that chilled Akadō, but the well trained Shinobi complied at walked down the steps slowly, each step seeming to drag on forever as he got closer to the boy. Akadō looked at Kankurō, the unrealistic tinge to him was still there, something off that Akadō just couldn't quite put his finger on. Though Kankurō still had that evil little grin on his features, though it wasn't as real as Akadō had seen before, and Akadō watched for even the slightest twitch in the ninja in front of him, but there was none, Kankurō didn't move, not a millimetre, and it heightened Akadō's senses to show him that something was off. Kankurō's eyes didn't glint with the same evil, his paint seemed slightly off from the position Akadō had seen early, Kankurō stood as still as a statue and Akadō didn't know what to make of it, it wierded him out. Not that Akadō was going to show Kankurō that.

Kankurō could feel the bandage around him, it was a good job he wasn't claustrophobic, otherwise this technique would be impossible. Kankurō shut his eyes and allowed himself to see through his puppet, Karasu. Kankurō looked the man in front of him up and down. To Kankurō, Akadō Yoroi was a simple man, not that Akadō's facial expressions were easy to see, due to the mask Akadō wore. But Kankurō had perfected the art of telling someone's emotions by looking in they're eyes. Kankurō was scaring Akadō, he could see it, and Kankurō smiled. He was purposefully making his puppet act slightly off, slightly less like himself, to scare this Akadō guy, and Kankurō could tell it was working. The Shinobi Kankurō was facing didn't seem at all spectacular, and that's all that Kankurō had seen. Kankurō didn't know that, if for the fact that Orochimaru had ordered for him to win, that Akadō would probably have beaten him and left him to die. To Kankurō, Akadō was just a wannabe.

And then the fight began.

-0000-

**Me: Cliffhanger, YAY!  
Akadō: If you think I'm going to let that Tonchiki win!  
Kankurō: I'M NOT AN IDIOT, SHIMATTA!  
Me: Kankurō, at least if you're going to say 'damn it', say it in English.  
Akadō, don't call Kankurō an idiot, numbskull, cretin, or whatever it means!  
Kabuto: This is what I put up with, Akadō can't help himself but argue.  
Me: THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END! I feel sorry for this noroma!  
Akadō: And she complains about us! For you folks who don't know, noroma means dunce, clod, ect.  
Me: Che!  
Kankurō: Now that's just plain swearing!**

***Anyone guess that I don't like him?**


End file.
